Who are we

The Mission of the Malaysian Association of the Blind is to empower persons with visual impairment by providing them with services and opportunities for greater participation, involvement, and integration into society, as well as to promote prevention of blindness.

The Malaysian Association for the Blind (MAB) is the premier voluntary organisation in Malaysia serving visually impaired persons. It provides services that help the blind and prevent the tragedy of avoidable blindness.

Established in 1951 by the then Department of Social Welfare to look after the general well-being of blind persons in the country, MAB has since carried out this role and much more. Its activities have extended from Kuala Lumpur to other parts of the country. These include educational programmes, rehabilitation courses, vocational training and placement service. In addition, MAB also runs a Braille library, a “talking” book library, a Braille Publishing Unit, an Information Technology Centre, Resource Centre and a Sale and Production Unit to name a few. Its prevention of blindness programmes are realized through the eye hospital which MAB established in 1986.

In recent years, MAB has reached out to the visually impaired folks in the rural areas where rehabilitation services and training programmes are provided to them within their home environment, through its community-based rehabilitation (CBR) schemes.

The Malaysian Association for the Blind always works towards creating greater public awareness concerning the abilities and capabilities of the visually impaired persons under its charge. This is to ensure their better integration into the society and a better quality of life.

In order to accommodate the changing needs, demands and challenges of the modern world, MAB strives constantly to improve and expand its services for the betterment of visually impaired people by introducing new courses and acquiring new equipment.

Our needs

To achieve its aims, the Association has to depend on public donation and assistance, MAB is very thankful to all its well-wishers for their kind support throughout the years.

Some of MAB’s services include:-

1) Vocational training(KL and Pahang)

With this programme the Blind will be able to acquire knowledge and skills aimed at preparing them for employment. The courses available include woodwork, massage, telephony and information communication technology. English language courses are also available. The duration of the courses ranges from 1 – 2 semesters. There are two centres, one in Kuala Lumpur and one in Kuantan, Pahang.

KL Centre: at Wisma MAB, Jalan Tebing, Off Jln Tun Sambanthan 4, KL
Tel: 03-22722677 Fax: 03-22722676

Pahang Training Centre: TAMAN HARAPAN AGRICULTURAL TRAINING CENTRE, Pahang.

Taman Harapan, 28000 Temerloh, Pahang
Telephone : (09) 297 2303
Fax : (09) 297 2024
Email : [email protected]
Capacity : 30 trainees
Age : 16 to 45 years

Vocational Training Courses cover:

• Evaluation and Adjustment Programmes
• Orientation and Mobility
• Techniques of daily living
• Basic communication skills
• Recreational activities
• Case study

Skills training

• Agriculture (planting of fruit trees, vegetables, etc)
• Horticulture (potted plants, nursery, budding)
• Animal Husbandry (rearing chicken, ducks, goats and fish)
• Handicrafts (local crafts in rattan, mengkuang)

Aftercare

• To provide follow-up and aftercare services
• Resource centre helps to coordinate the sale of products of home-workers

2) ABC Centre(Assistance to Blind Children Centre)
Assistance to Blind Children Centre (ABC)

The Early Intervention Programme was established in 1994. The ABC Day Care Centre was established in 1998.

Services:

• Help parents to register their blind and low-vision children
• To disseminate information to parents with blind and low-vision children
• Parent counselling
• Home visits
• Day training centre

Please contact the Coordinator / Supervisor for further information at 03-22722677 ext. 116 or complete the Early Intervention Programme Form and email or fax to us.

Location of ABC Centres:

Kuala Lumpur:
PDK Permata, Kompleks MAB,
Jalan Tebing, Off Jalan Tun Sambanthan 4,
50470 Kuala Lumpur.
Tel. No: 03-22722677 ext. 116

Klang:
No. 141A, Lorong Sri Sarawak 22,
Jalan Tun Sambanthan,
Klang.
Tel. No: 03-33425690

Kota Bharu:
No. 5519 Jalan Telipot,
Kota Bharu,
15150 Kelantan.
Tel/Fax 09-7418757

Days: Monday to Friday (8:30A.M. – 12:00P.M.)

Age Group:

Babies and Preschoolers –  0 to 6 years
Unable to attend school due to multiple disabilities – 7 years and above

Programme:

Orientation and Mobility
Basic Living Skills
Motor skills
Pre-school activities – Brailling, Reading, and Numbers
Recreational activities
Counselling

3) Community Based Rehabilitation (CBR)

CBR was established in 1985 as the outreach programme to assist the poor and rural blind.

Services :

• To locate and identify visually impaired persons in the rural areas
• To do a case study of individual blind persons, provide rehabilitation services and vocational training suited to an individual’s needs within the home environment
• To involve the family, guardian and / or the community members in the rehabilitation process
• To provide follow-up services
• To do referrals and vision screening whenever required

Please contact the CBR Services for further information at 09-2972303 (Pahang), 06-4817702 (Negeri Sembilan and Melaka) or email [email protected]

4)Welfare Unit

The Welfare Unit of MAB was established in 1998 to provide assistance to the visually impaired in a systematic, organized and practical manner.

Services include:

• Home and Hospital visits
• Financial relief to the Blind
• Networking with other groups regarding access to public facilities
• Locating, identifying and referral of new blind cases
• Social Activity Centre for the Adult Blind and Elderly Blind Club

Please contact the Welfare Unit for information and assistance at 03-22722677 ext. 132.

5) Social Activity Centre

Activities include:

• Organising recreational activities for the blind
• Organising educational programmes such as talks and tours
• Promoting traditional culture among the blind such as kompang, gamelan, etc.

6) Elderly Blind Club

Activities include:

• Day care activity centre
• Registration of elderly blind persons
• Networking with other groups
• Social gatherings such as birthday parties
• Organising programmes such as talks and tours

Please contact 03 – 22722677 ext. 121 for further details on Social Activity Centre or Elderly Blind Club.

How volunteers can help

There will be two types of volunteers:

Long-Term Volunteers:

These will be volunteers who intend to serve MAB for at least one year and they should register with MAB by completing and faxing or emailing the Volunteer Application Form.

Short-Term Volunteers:

These will be volunteers who are interested in providing services for just a short period of time or just for the immediate project or activity.  Examples of such volunteers will include inter-actors and school students.  These short-term volunteers do not need to fill in the application form.

However, after having served for at least one year, they could register as long-term volunteers.

Kindly contact 03-22722677 ext. 121 if you would like further clarification or information on Outreach Care Programme.

Donations

Donations from the public is very important to enable the Malaysian Association for the Blind to continue and serve the visually impaired by expanding and improving its services.

If you would like to contribute to help the visually impaired, kindly please refer to the Donation Form.

Monetary donations are tax exempted under the Provision of Section 44(6) of the Income Tax Ordinance No. 48 of 1947.

Ref. No. IRD 01/35/42/51/179-6.0490.  Gazetted No. L.N. 407 dated 10.6.1952

Upcoming events

Previous events can be viewed here. Please contact organisation for future events.

Malaysian Association for the Blind (MAB)